Trasylol Lawsuit filed in N.Y.

Trasylol, also known as aprotinin has been alleged to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. The drug is commonly used to prevent excessive blood loss during heart surgery. Trasylol is given to patients intravenously along with other medicines so that most people do not even know that they are receiving it. Doctors do not need special permission to administer it.

A NY lawsuit filed claims that the drug an eight-month hospitalization and death. According to the source, Doctors at Stony Brook University Medical Center said the man's complications were serious side effects from the drug, Trasylol, which is used to control bleeding during heart surgery (according to the lawsuit).

The drug allegedly caused kidney failure in the 52-year-old man, and set off a chain reaction that forced Randone to have both his legs amputated, require a tracheotomy and be put on a ventilator to breathe.

$134.5 M Verdict in Prempro: Wyeth Execs knew of Cancer Dangers since the 1970's

In a just completed trial, there is information that several researchers allegedly warned Wyeth reps as early as 1976 that the company's menopause drugs could be tied to increased risks of breast cancer but that the company chose not to study the issue, at least according to the lawyer for the Plaintiffs Arlene Rowatt, Jeraldine Scofield and Pamela Forrester.

Their cases all have a common claim: That hormone- replacement medicines, including Prempro and Premarin, caused their breast cancers.

Closing arguments were held on 10/8/07.

Verdict: A jury in Reno, Nev., decided Wyeth should pay $134.5 million to three women who claimed their breast cancer was caused by company-made drugs used in their hormone-replacement therapy. Source is the WSJ: here.

Merck Wins Another Vioxx Case: FL State Court

From various sources listed below:

In in a Florida State Court (Hillsborough County Circut Court) a jury ruled in favor of Merck in the defense of a Vioxx case.

Refik Kozic was the plaintiff in that action. He was known for his major league soccer career, playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. According to most reports, Kozic had atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease Kozic had high cholesterol and other risk factors that contributed to the progression of his disease over a long period of time.

Florida Circuit Court Judge William P. Levens presided over the case. This was the first VIOXX case in Florida to go to trial.

Lawyer Advertising: What Not To Do

Driving through a southern state this weekend I heard a radio ad for a law firm. The 30 second informed that the Firm handled injury cases as well as divorce cases.

What was missing? In the short span of the ad, the telephone number was mentioned once - about fifteen seconds in -but not mentioned again. The Law Firm's name was mentioned only once, and the name was not easy to pronounce much less remember. There was no website reference. There was one mention of the street address.

Why waste your money on this?

In my experience, any radio ad must mention the phone number at least three times. A website reference (at least twice) is critical, especially if the Law Firm name it not easy to recall.

At a minimum, if a firm has a toll free number the .com can be just that ... "our number is the same as our website: 877-80 DRUGS , 87780drugs.com"